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Warcraft (Film Review)

Warcraft is the first of two games that have been adapted to fit on the silver screen, films like these are a huge gamble as more often than not they are often seen as being pretty terrible. I was curious as to whether Warcraft would follow in those footsteps or wether it would finally break the mould and be the game based film we always wanted.

“The peaceful realm of Azeroth stands on the brink of war as its civilization faces a fearsome race of invaders: orc warriors fleeing their dying home to colonize another. As a portal opens to connect the two worlds, one army faces destruction and the other faces extinction. From opposing sides, two heroes are set on a collision course that will decide the fate of their family, their people, and their home”

Warcraft was directed by Duncan Jones, the man who directed Moon and Source Code. They might not be the best known films but they are both rather good and well worth a watch, knowing this I was even more excited to watch this film.

The film opens on and Orc named Durotan (Toby Kebbell) and his wife Draka (Anna Galvin) who join the orcs as the arrive on Azeroth though some crazy looking portal. It is at this point that the motivations for both sides become clear as day, the orcs want to bring the rest of the horde with them and everyone else wants to stop that from happening.

Anduin Lothar (Travis Fimmel) is one of heroes of the film and is the main focal point for the telling of the story. Garona (Paula Patton) has a pretty interesting story arc throughout this film and gets to do a lot although the film would have been fine without attempting to create a romantic connection between her and Lothar.

One of the things that I liked most about this film was the magic in the form of a generic character Khadgar (Ben Schnetzer) and a Guardian called Medivh (Ben Foster). Watching them work their magic made for some of the most entertaining and exciting moments in the entire film.

Gul’dan (Daniel Wu) was a really interesting adversary for our heroes to face off against. Daniel Wu gave a great performance in this role and I am looking forward to seeing him back in the inevitable sequels, presuming this film does well enough at the box office of course.

Warcraft was a hell of a lot better than I or anyone knows game related films expected it to be, yeah it jumped around a lot and the pacing left a lot to be desired but overall it was a good film. I just wish I knew the game and the lore more as I think I would have enjoyed the film quite a bit more if I had.

I am not saying that you need to play the game before you go and see the film but you will definitely appreciate it more if you do. However if you are a fan of fantasy films, like seeing magic or enjoy watching a good fight scene then I am sure that you will enjoy this film.